It was 2005. Lady Soames was coach­ing me on a let­ter to her cousin the Duke of Marl­bor­ough, ask­ing (again) for the lease (at a friend-of-the-fam­i­ly dis­count) of the Great Hall at Blenheim Palace for a black tie din­ner crown­ing the 2006 Churchill Tour.

“What should I call him, then? I can’t call him ‘Sun­ny,’ as you do!” (The fam­i­ly nick­name stemmed from one of the Duke’s ear­ly titles, Earl of Sun­der­land.)

It was 2005. Lady Soames was help­ing me write to her cousin the Duke, ask­ing (again) for the lease (at anoth­er friend-of-the-fam­i­ly dis­count) of the Great Hall at Blenheim Palace for a black tie din­ner to crown the 13th Churchill Tour.

“What should I call him then? I can’t say ‘Sun­ny,’ as you do!” (The fam­i­ly nick­name stemmed from the Duke’s first title, Earl of Sun­der­land.)